SrrpiKP IN AtlSIRALlAX I'lSllKS MtTl :|,|,( k II. 



45 



t»t biiiallei' ieetli ; a row of microscopi(; (t^ctli is presenl on eacli palatine 

 bone, and a few are present on a raised ridge on eacli side of tlie vomer. 

 ( I ill-membranes united across tlie isthmus anteriorly by a tine membrane. 

 Gill-rakers slender, those at tlie angle of the Hrst arch two-tliii-ds as long 

 as the eye; about thirty on tlie lower limb of the first arch. 



Kirst dorsal i"ay placed a trifle nearer the hypural joiui than the eiul 

 of the snout ; the two anterior rays are simple, and the third is branched 

 and longest, being longei- than the base of the tin. Anal commencing 

 behind the tip of the adpi'essed dorsal ; its two anterior rays are simple, 

 the tliird branched and longest though little more than half the length 

 of the base of the fin. Ventral insei-ted before the ilorsal, the oi-igiu of 

 which is above the middle of its length wlien it is adpressed ; its first ray 

 is simple and longest, the otliers branched. Pectoral leaching more than 

 hall" its distance from the ventral, its upper ray simple, the second 

 branched and longest. Caudal forked. 



Colour, after preservation in alcohul. — Bi'own on the back and upper 

 portion of the side, with a broad silver lateral band from the shoulder to 

 the tail ; lower portions of the sides and head silveiy. 



Described and figured from a specimen 107 mm. long, Irom the end 

 of the snout to the tip of the middle caudal rays, which Avas collected at 

 Port Hacking, New South Wales. 



Variation. — One other specimen of about the same size from Port 

 Hacking, and four from the Melbourne Mai'kets exhibit the following 

 characters. 



Status. — E. austral if is very similar to E. eiwrafiicolnf, Liune, but 

 appears to have less numerous scales, there being only about 40 in a 

 longitudinal row instead of 48-50. 



Synoiiymy. — The common Anchovy of southern Australia and New 

 Zealand appears to have been referred to under several different names 

 by different authors. 



The figure of Atheriiia australis, Shaw, which was accompanied by 

 only a few characters of a general nature, is very crude, and cannot be 

 associated with our species with certainty. The fact that it has but one 

 dorsal fin excludes it from the Family Atherinida? in which it Avas placed 



